Charlie Brown, Rudolph, the Grinch and others make their annual appearances on TV

Fun fact: CBS wanted the special to have a laugh track and produced such a version despite creator Charles M. Schultz’s objections. It was never released.

“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” 8 p.m. Dec. 18 and Dec. 25, ABC — Boris Karloff narrates the charming Dr. Seuss tale, yet another slap in the face to commercialism. The Grinch, an angry green creature, lives in a cave outside of Whoville. Disguised as Santa, he sneaks into the town on Christmas Eve and steals all of the presents and decorations. When he hears the happy Whos singing carols on Christmas morning instead of bemoaning their losses, the Grinch returns the presents and gets to carve the roast beast at the holiday feast.

Fun fact: According to The Journal of Popular Culture, Theodore Geisel (Seuss) worked with Grinch animator Chuck Jones and “It’s a Wonderful Life” director Frank Capra on a series of animated instructional films for the U.S. Army during World War II.

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” 8 p.m. Dec. 4, CBS — Ridiculed for his red nose, Rudolph hits the road with a grizzled prospector and an elf who wants to be a dentist. After a run-in with the Abominable Snow Monster and a stop on the sad Island of Misfit Toys, Rudolph returns to the North Pole to learn that only his shiny nose can help Santa see through a blizzard that threatens to cancel Christmas.

Fun fact: Producer Arthur Rankin Jr. revealed on NPR that Dolly, the only misfit toy without an apparent problem, suffered from depression due to abandonment. Actually, I guess that’s not such a fun fact.

“Elf” 8 p.m. Dec. 15, CBS — In this modern classic, Will Ferrell stars as Buddy the Elf. A human raised by Santa’s helpers as one of their own, naive Buddy learns his true identity and heads to New York City to find his father, a cynical children’s book publishing executive. Zooey Deschanel, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner and Peter Dinklage round out an amazing supporting cast.

“A Christmas Story” 5 p.m. Dec. 24, TBS (24-hour marathon) — The leg lamp. The furnace. The triple-dog dare. “Fra-gee-lay!” Although broad and insufferable to some, young Ralphie’s quest for an “official Red Ryder carbine-action, two-hundred-shot, range model air rifle” is a bona fide Christmas staple, based on the works of author Jean Shepherd (who also narrates).

Fun fact: Jack Nicholson was considered for the father role that went to Darren McGavin.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” 8 p.m. Dec. 1 and Dec. 24, NBC — It’s just not the Christmas season unless I’m lying on the couch watching George Bailey and Clarence the angel in glorious black and white, with reflected color provided by the lights on our tree. Clarence gives desperate George a look at how much worse off his city and its residents would be if he had never existed in the film responsible for the adjective “Capra-esque.”

Fun fact: Director Capra was for colorization of the film before he was against it.